BEFORE HE MADE HIS WAY down Pennsylvania Avenue NW in his Popemobile this afternoon, Pope Benedict XVI must have received a lesson in D.C. driving.
He didn't slow down. He didn't stop unnecessarily. But he did wave politely. (That must be a new part of the training that most of us didn't get.)
I arrived at Pennsylvania Avenue and 22nd Street NW at about 10 minutes before noon, when the pope's motorcade was scheduled to leave the White House, where the pontiff had been meeting with President Bush, up Pennsylvania and toward Observatory Circle, where he's staying while he's in town.
It was warm and sunny, and crowds lined both sides of the wide boulevard, with police barricades and dozens of officers blocking them from touching the asphalt. Cops were also shooing onlookers off of railings, flowerbeds, stairs and other elevated viewing spots, perhaps out of an abundance of caution for the pope's safety.
The crowd ranged from infants to the elderly, but it was heavily peppered with students from nearby George Washington University. Among them were Kristin Karcsh, Lindsay Melvin, Laura Wunk and Taylor Donohue. They came out to pack in a few extra memories before three of them graduate later this year.
So, they came. They saw. And, yes, they bought the T-shirt. One for each of them, in fact — all emblazoned with the pope's picture and purchased from one of several street vendors prowling the crowd. (They said Karcsh was the first to cave.)
The shirts were going for $10 each. Another vendor I approached (he's pictured at right) was hawking Benedict buttons for $5 and pennants for $10. Pope prices ain't cheap.
Continue Reading "Faster Than a Speeding Popemobile: Benedict in D.C." »
IT COULD HAVE BEEN a nightmare scenario for the Georgetown Hoyas.
Senior Roy Hibbert, the 7-foot-2 center who the Hoyas' offense is built around, got himself into foul trouble early and finished with no points and four turnovers. Yet Georgetown adapted without its big man, making a Big East tournament record 17 3-pointers en route to a 82-63 victory over Villanova.
The next night in New York, Hibbert scored 25 points — one shy of his career high — and was the driving force behind a 72-55 win against West Virginia.
In those two games, the Hoyas demonstrated a versatility on offense that they will need as they make their way in the Midwest region of the NCAA tournament beginning Friday against the University of Maryland-Baltimore County Retrievers.
"I've said all along, we can play and have success different ways," said coach John Thompson III. "Yes, ... the big fella is the hub; he's the focal point. We have other guys that can step up and make plays."
IT'S NOT HOYA PARANOIA if they are really out to get you.
Such has been life for the No. 9 Georgetown Hoyas all year — and it turns out the team is just fine with that.
The preseason favorite to win the Big East took opponents' best shot yet survived to repeat as league champions, earning the top seed in this week's Big East tournament in the process.
And in New York, just as in the regular season, Georgetown will be the team to beat.
"A lot of people may not want a bull's-eye on their back," said Hoyas senior Jonathan Wallace. "We take pride in that. We accept that role."
When Wallace first came to Georgetown four years ago, Hoya paranoia had gone the way of Beta tapes — a bygone relic of the 1980s.
But under John Thompson III, the Hoyas have established themselves as the class of the Big East by thinking small and dreaming big.
Continue Reading "Sports Talk: Hoyas Are Hit With the Best Shots" »
ROY HIBBERT CAME BACK to Georgetown this season for this: one game, featuring two top-25 teams tied for first place and with the Big East championship at stake.
On a day when the senior class will be honored at Verizon Center, the 11th-ranked Hoyas (24-4, 14-3) won't have much time for nostalgia. Everything will be on the line against No. 12 Louisville (24-6, 14-3).
This group — which came into Georgetown with coach John Thompson III four years ago and helped revived the struggling program — will be trying to repeat as league champions for the first time since the 1996-97 seasons, an accomplishment not even achieved in Patrick Ewing Sr.'s four years. It's also only the second time that the two teams tied at the top of the Big East will play for the league title in the regular season finale.
"This is what you live for in college basketball," Hibbert said Thursday. "This is the way I want to go out my senior year."
Also playing in their final home games will be Jonathan Wallace, Patrick Ewing Jr. and Tyler Crawford. Though only Hibbert and Wallace are regulars in the starting lineup, Thompson said each played a role in rebuilding the team to the status it enjoyed during its glory days under John Thompson Jr.
MAYBE GEORGETOWN MADE THE RIGHT decision when it put crucifixes in all of its classrooms.
Some otherworldly force seems to be looking out for the school's men's basketball team this season.
This past weekend, senior guard Jonathan Wallace performed his own trinity of virtual miracles in the Hoyas' victory at Marquette.
First, he drew a foul while shooting a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left. Then the little general's final foul shot of regulation hit every part of the rim before falling into the basket. For his final act, Wallace banked a 3-pointer with a defender in his face to even the score in overtime.
These are not isolated incidents this year on the Hilltop.
THE GEORGETOWN HOYAS have been ranked in the top 20 each week this season. They have beaten 23 of 27 opponents with two regular season games remaining. And they held a half-game lead in the Big East heading into Thursday night's conference action.
That's who the team is.
But much of the talk, surrounding the No. 11 Hoyas has been about who they are not. Georgetown is not the same group as last year's team, led by Jeff Green, that was blowing out tough opponents at this time last season and eventually reached the Final Four.
There is no one person the Hoyas count on to score 20 points per game. Senior center Roy Hibbert leads the team with 13.4 points per game and just two others — Jonathan Wallace and DaJuan Summers, who tallied a game-high 21 points in Wednesday's win over St. John's — average in double figures in scoring.
Many of the team's wins have been ugly affairs, and four were decided by three points or fewer — all Hoyas victories.
Not that there is anything wrong with that. Just ask Georgetown's opponents about the team that will visit No. 21 Marquette (20-6, 11-5) Saturday.
"I think people have been unjustly saying negative things about their team — that they're maybe not living up to expectations; that they're not blowing people out," said Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin, whose team suffered a 73-53 defeat last weekend. "They play in the Big East, the deepest conference in college basketball history. You are not going to blow everybody out. ... It's amazing what expectations will do."
The Hoyas (23-4, 13-3) have not enjoyed many lopsided victories, and, without Green to take the final shot, they have relied on myriad players in key situations.
Express' Matt Swenson calls 'em as he sees 'em.
BECAUSE IT APPEARS WE'LL NEVER again get to settle this debate on the court, why not stir up a good old-fashioned sports bar fight.
Who's the best college basketball team in the area: Georgetown or Maryland (sorry Mason fans, this isn't your year)?
The folks at The Tombs can point to the Hoyas' No. 12 ranking and will probably cite last year's Final Four appearance. Of course, this is a far different group.
R.J. Bentleys may have been a bit quiet after those losses to American and Ohio, but the Terps seemed to have turned a corner before Wednesday's slip-up against Virginia Tech.
Some basic facts point to Georgetown. It has a better record and more experienced players. Yet the Hoyas haven't meshed on the court like last year's group. Silly mistakes and sloppy shooting are making it hard for Georgetown to score more than 60 points per game.
Continue Reading "Swengali: Who's Better, Hoyas or Terps?" »
JOHN THOMPSON III HAD SEEN ENOUGH. For the past month, his Hoyas had not played their best basketball but found ways to win.
Then came a 77-70 loss to Big East rival Syracuse last Saturday in which then No.8-Georgetown trailed by double digits most of the game.
"This team just hasn't [shown] the hardness that's necessary to win against a good team on the road," the coach said. "There's still time left to get that, but we haven't gotten there yet. That keeps rearing its head."
The statement was an open acknowledgment of what many national critics have said about Georgetown, which slipped to No. 12 in the Associated Press rankings. Yet it was still noteworthy, for Thompson rarely, if ever, publicly criticizes his team.
After another sloppy half the next game at Providence, the coach turned to his seniors to snap Georgetown (20-4, 10-3) out of its funk.
A group featuring Roy Hibbert, Jonathan Wallace, Patrick Ewing Jr., and Tyler Crawford broke open a close game for a 68-58 victory.
Continue Reading "Sports Talk: Georgetown's Thompson Seeks Urgency" »
WHEN JONATHAN WALLACE'S COLLEGE CAREER comes to a close in either March or early April, the records will show no better 3-point shooter in Georgetown's history.
With a school-record 246 long balls (and counting), the senior point guard long ago earned coach John Thompson III's complete trust.
"I feel good every time the ball leaves his hand," Thompson said after Monday's 55-53 victory over Villanova, in which the guard hit a crucial 3-pointer two minutes and 13.9 seconds before his two game-winning free throws.
Wallace, who scored a team-high 15 points, was the hero of the game. It's a position the Harvest, Ala., native has been in before — just not recently.
Mired in the worst shooting slump in four years entering Monday's win, Wallace had not made a 3-pointer in three consecutive games and had not scored in double digits in five straight contests — longer streaks than he'd had in either of the previous two seasons.
Continue Reading "Sports Talk: Wallace is Hoyas' Hot Shot" »
BY NOW, PATRICK EWING JR'S last name is almost incidental at Georgetown.
He doesn't average 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks per game like his father did. Nor will the younger Ewing win Big East Player of the Year once, let alone twice like the former Hoyas legend. In fact, this No. 33 doesn't even start.
Yet, in his own way, Ewing has become as invaluable to his team as his name would imply.
Some days he will score -- like his career high 16-point performance against Seton Hall in last Saturday's win -- while in other games, Ewing Jr. will excel on the boards and on defense, such as in Monday's victory over South Florida.
More than anything, though, he always provides the type of effort coach John Thompson III is looking for.
"The energy he brings is infectious," Thompson said, noting Ewing's value even as he sat out a season two years ago after transferring to Georgetown. "He won games when he wasn't even on the court."
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